[Gimp-gui] Enhancement request for an alternate object positioning modality

["Reid D. Bingham" <rdbingham verizon net>]

This is an enhancement request for an alternate object 
positioning modality.  I have reviewed https://www.gimp.org/bugs/ 
which suggests that for GIMP the Bugzilla is *not* the place for 
user-generated enhancement requests and this mailing list seems 
the next best forum for this request.

Summary:
Pointer-based positioning (select and move by pen, mouse, etc.) 
of active objects via the GUI have inherent limitations for fine 
positioning of selected objects.  These sources are:

+ Quantitization and jitter in the computer hardware/software 
stack, and

+ Jitter and tremor in the user's meatware stack in positioning 
the pointer.

It is the latter which is the motivator for this request.  
Meatware users typically have a heartbeat which always introduces 
tremor. Older meatware users can develop degrees of "essential 
tremor" complicating fine use of pointer hardware.

Compensating by doing positioning at high zoom-in has its limits 
because the user can lose their view of local landmarks in the 
image to which they are positioning and guides disappear at 800% 
zoom. (In passing, neither Snap To Canvas Edges nor the Alignment 
Tool appear to work for Guides if I want a guide precisely on a 
canvas or layer boundary edge.)

Functionality Requested:

In any context where a user is, in the GUI, a) moving an entire 
object ( as with Move, Rotate tools), or b) editing an object or 
meta-object by moving an poly-line or grid edit point (selection, 
path, shear grid, perspective grid, transform cage, etc.), there 
is an alternate positioning mode using the Cursor keys allowing 
positioning to some quantum of position change, possibly with 
modifier key selection gross and fine quanta.  Guides count as 
GUI objects.  Positioning by co-ordinate entry is not a 
substitute as that method is not a fluid interaction compared to 
simple key press.

Details:
I am currently using GIMP 2.8.22 on Windows 10 Pro and about to 
update to 2.9.x.

I have reviewed the Preferences->Input Devices->Main Keyboard 
events map possibilities for Cursor Up/Down/Left/Right and have 
not recognized an action set that might offer the functionality.

I have reviewed the following and did not see any obvious hits by 
eyeball:

+ https://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-tool-move.html

+  https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gimp-gui-list/ with 
"positioning" and "cursor"

 + https://wiki.gimp.org/index.php/Roadmap

Conceptually, one could imagine a sets of actions 
context-something-GUI-movable-selected-move-{gross, fine}-{up, 
down, left, right, diag} that could be mapped to keyboard keys.


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